The best people work for more than money. Why I invest in cults.

There are many models to invest in early stage tech. They include theme based, thesis based, and maths based.

Mine is cults, led by cult leaders.

Cults are TOTAL mission-based businesses built by founders with an energy, intensity and messianic belief that bend the world to their will.

In my experience, the best are when the business is truly an expression of their true selves. They have found not just ‘Product market fit’ but something more powerful — Founder-Product-Market-Fit.

So why cults?

For me it is simple — it is the biggest de-risker in early stage investing. It is a heuristic for:
— The ability to hire the best talent
— A founder or founding team that will never ever give up.
— Having an ability to sell to both customers and future investors.

The ability to hire the best talent is the most important. The ‘war for talent’ means there is not enough great people to help create great companies . Here is THE insight:

“….the best people work for more than money, they need a mission to believe in.” (Richard Burton of Balance.io)

So there it is….cults is my heuristic.

Please tell me if you find any.

Some I’ve invested in are here.They include Eth, Citymapper, Mrs Wordsmith, Verve and Kyra. If you find any then please let me know.

If you liked this and want more then this is 😊 Me , 💵What I invest in,⚡A belief in corporate innovation and 😱A movement I helped start by accident . Also check out www.thebakery.com and www.saatchinvest.com